Google Play has a huge sale to celebrate first birthday

One year ago today, Google shifted all of their digital content sales to the Play brand. To celebrate the anniversary of that shift, several game developers have teamed up with Google to release Android themed goodies to go with the many sales going on across the store.

The shift to Google Play raised a lot of eyebrows, but mostly because it wasn’t entirely clear at the time what the benefit was. Google’s Android Market had proven itself tremendously successful, but the company had larger plans. Google Play was to become the single point of sale for digital content sold by Google, and later would grow to be the platform used to sell their hardware as well. Google’s Nexus hardware is now sold through Play, and the rest of the Play Store grows daily with all sorts of digital content.

The Google Play Birthday features deals and sales across the entirety of the Play Store. There’s gift cards and deals for apps like Fancy and GYFT, free music and books, and a handful of movies that have been discounted. Rentals for several television shows have been made free to watch as well, though it doesn’t say whether or not that will remain a part of your account after the sale is over. Several games feature exclusive in-game content surrounding the Android logo. There are games where the Bugdroid is a playable character, or accessories and in game items that feature the iconic figure.

This is easily the biggest platform-wide sale Google has had since the quarter sale that has been rolled out each time the service has reached a download milestone for their apps. Google hasn’t released any figures to go along with their birthday to show how effective the transition to Google Play has been, but it’s hard to get through a television show or a magazine without seeing an ad for something that includes the colorful triangle logo.

Head to the Play Store on your phone or in your browser to check out the deals for yourself. Happy Birthday Google Play!